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Isis claims unremarked arson attack in Malmö

TT/The Local
TT/The Local - [email protected]
Isis claims unremarked arson attack in Malmö
The arson attack took place on Norra Grängesbergsgatan in Malmö. File photo: Emil Langvad/TT

An arson attack in Malmö that caused only minor damage and was barely reported in the media has been claimed by terror group Isis.

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The fire broke out on 11th October in a community centre in Malmö, causing smoke damage in the building. Police believe the fire was caused after attackers broke windows and threw in two molotov cocktails. 
 
The latest edition of Isis magazine al-Naba claims the fire was started by “a warrior from the caliphate,” Swedish media reports. The article claims the centre was used by “infidels”, believed in this context to mean Shia Muslims. 
 
According to the article, the attack was carried out “on the instructions of the leader al-Adnani”, referring to Isis spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, who has called for terror attacks on the West.
 
But Swedish terrorism expert Magnus Ranstorp said the claims should be taken with a “pinch of salt.”
 
“I don’t think it will be possible to establish that they are involved. They’ve got a habit of taking responsibility for everything. They tend to claim terror attacks that have nothing to do with,” Ranstorp told SVT. 
 
“But it’s interesting that they mention the fire, that news of it has reached Isis’s internal publication, at a time when they are under pressure, and they’ve published it quite quickly,” Ranstorp told SVT.
 
Terror expert Hans Brun of Kings College London, told Svenska Dagbladet that it was remarkable that al-Naba had heard about the attack.
 
“This incident hasn’t had a lot of attention in Sweden, or internationally as far as I’m aware. The question is how they got access to this information.”
 
“Someone must either have tipped them off about the incident or they have had contact with the person or people who did it. I’m surprised that they have mentioned such a small incident in the first place. As far as I’m aware nobody was injured. It’s not a global news event,” he said.
 
Swedish security service Säpo would neither confirm nor deny having seen the claims in al-Naba.

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